甘草 gan cao

Glycyrrhiza asperrima Linnaeus f. var. desertorum Regel; G. asperrima var. uralensis (Fischer ex Candolle) Regel; G. shiheziensis X. Y. Li.

Herbs, perennial. Roots and rhizomes strong. Stem 30-120 cm tall, densely scaly glandular punctate and white or brown tomentose. Leaves 5-20 cm, 5-17-foliolate; stipules triangular-lanceolate, ca. 5 × 2 mm, densely white pubescent; petiole densely brown glandular punctate and pubescent; leaflets ovate, narrowly ovate, or orbicular, 1.5-5 × 0.8-3 cm, densely glan­dular punctate and pubescent, base rounded, margin entire or repand, apex obtuse and mucronate. Racemes much flowered; rachis shorter than leaf, densely brown glandular punctate and pubescent; bracts brown, oblong-lanceolate, 3-4 mm, membra­nous, yellow glandular and pubescent. Calyx campanulate, 7-14 mm, densely yellow glandular punctate and pubescent, in­flated to saccate at base, 5-toothed; upper 2 teeth mostly joined. Corolla purple, white, or yellow, 1-2.4 cm; standard oblong, base shortly clawed, apex retuse; wings shorter than standard; keel shorter than wings. Ovary densely glandular. Legume fal­cate to curved into a ring, densely tuberculate and glandular hairy. Seeds 3-11, dark green, orbicular or reniform, ca. 3 mm. Fl. Jun-Aug, fr. Jul-Oct. 2n = 16*.

Sandy lands, dry riverbanks, grasslands on hills; 400-2700 m. Gansu, Hebei, Heilongjiang, Liaoning, Nei Mongol, Ningxia, Qinghai, Shaanxi, Shandong, Shanxi, Xinjiang [Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, Kyr­gyzstan, Mongolia, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan].